Why the Poor Stay Poor

To some, being poor is embarrassing and shameful, but to a select group of people; being poor is something they’re grateful to be. They embrace it and use it to their advantage to achieve better lives

To many Americans, poverty is merely a synonym for ‘not rich’. Even those who understand the definition may struggle with the concept that poverty is not a distant, foreign, concern; poverty can occur in any country, region, neighborhood, and household. In a study performed by Carroll et al, 60% of respondents agreed or strongly agreed with the statement “poor people are poor because of laziness and lack of will power (2011, p. 116). In the same questionnaire, 77% of respondents felt most poor people have the ability to escape poverty without government assistance (Carroll et al, 2011, p. 117). As above facts show, despite the widespread nature of this issue those not living in poverty often have

The first group say that the poor are made to be poor by the economic

Since poverty can span multiple generations its important how socioeconomics keeps the disadvantaged from achieving success. Poverty and the distribution of wealth are class issues, admittedly complicated by race and gender, we are born into a particular social class, and most of us will die in the same one into which we are born. While some will rise above our class origins, many more equally conscientious willing and able will remain in poverty. Although there are some cases that maybe used to counter the effects of socioeconomics on success, overachieving through hard work may still be halted and misunderstood. When people ask me how I managed to move out of poverty, I always get a lump in my throat. It is not because I am embarrassed to tell of my journey or because I want to forget that part of my past. Instead, I fear that people will think that I just decide to pull myself up by my boat

Poverty and income inequality are clearly widespread in avoidable in an economic system that caters to the wealthy and controls how the wealth is produced and distributed. We claim to want a society free of poor people. The system that people participate in and how they participate in the system has to change but the elephant in the room is how will this change

Throughout both in-class discussions, and David Shipler’s “The Working Poor: Invisible in America” we learned being poor in America is anything but easy. Even with all of our government assistance programs such as Medicaid and Welfare, many family generation after generation seem to fall below the poverty line and create a life of struggle and long way out for their families. When Shipler is explaining different families and their lac of self control in saving the little money they do earn, it makes you question if the have the know how to get out of poverty, or even in some cases even want to due to their different spending habits than successful people, falling into credit traps, and buying the un-necessary.

The existence of poverty is to commonly overlooked and denied by many. This is true when you or a friend have probably walked by a beggar and gave him/her nothing. You think he does drugs or you think he drinks but in reality he might have just made one mistake and there was no one there to help him back up. This chain of having no money is a factor that can destroy one’s self reputation. Poverty affects the health and education of those below the line of

are poor are poor because of their unwillingness to work or their inability to want to do better.

Living with a poverty level income is a difficulty facing many people around the world; poverty is a cultural universal, or trait found in every known culture – not an expression of individual differences. The most basic explanation for this is the trend towards social stratification, the system by which society organizes itself into a hierarchy. In some cultures this is manifest in the form of a caste system in which people who are in poverty have little to no chance of escaping it. In the United States the system is more in the form of a class system in which there is at least some degree of social mobility, and less status consistency allows people in poverty to have the possibility of changing their social status, but rarely the

In the article “Why are there poor people?” D' Souza discusses why there are poor people in the world one reason was of slavery. Slavery was oppressive institutions that prevented people for their freedom and raising society. And the reason why the society kept people poor because the people are depending on institutional structures that don’t exist. Therefore, Dinesh starts to mention how the poor can be prosperous if they start to establish free-market institutions, embrace modern technology, and cultivate the bourgeois virtues.

There are three main arguments believed to be the explanations for the existence and persistence of poverty. The first account is the Dependency-Based Explanation that puts the blame of poverty to the individual or to their cultural background. The Exclusion-Based Explanation and Structural-Based Explanation are the next two which establishes the society that condemns people to poverty.

Although many people do not realize this, poverty has a great impact on out society. The rapid increase of death rate, crime rate, and environmental destruction have everything to do with the horrible state of poverty. These problems are booming all over our society today causing many speculations, but the reason many just be clear and simple. Poverty.

The stereotypic explanation persists that the poor cause their own poverty. One of the problems is the unemployment. Firms these days are constantly searching for well educated, experienced, skilled and intelligent employees. The high unemployment rate is because of the lack of education given to poor people. This is because poor people are not able to afford education and instead, they stay home and feed their families. When given the chance, most of the people living under poverty will do the best they can to earn enough money to support their families. Poverty is also due to high housing costs. These days, the price of houses are getting higher and higher and soon most people won’t be able to afford a place to live in, let alone food to eat or water to drink. There are numerous causes of poverty including lack of individual responsibility, bad government policies, exploitation by people and businesses with a lot of power and influences, etc. Some poor people do not know how to be responsible for their own being and therefore they live on the streets waiting for donations just to get by their day. The government is trying to clear out the people on the streets but they do not do anything to help out the poor people and that is why they remain on the streets. High levels of inequality - the gap between the rich and poor - will lead to problems such as increasing crime and violence. Inequality is usually a

Nevertheless, the poor most often remain poor. This creates a jaded population of impoverished citizens. This is not to say that people are happy being poor, but that when one is taught by popular culture that they deserve better they become a victim. Someone or something has caused them to be poor; therefore, it is ultimately not their fault. One effect of this victimization is that it can breed complacency. Through whatever means, some reason, I will get what's coming to me. I am owed. Instead of using what meager opportunities are out there some will simply wait for their piece of the pie. Another effect of this idea of being a victim is the homeless are different than the mere poor because they must have done it to themselves. As they are owed just as much as everyone else, they must have done something to cause them to be homeless. This helps to calm the fear that perhaps being in America does not guarantee success or even a decent shot at it.

Thousands of individuals are living in poverty. Why is it that this worldwide dilemma is still rising in rapid numbers till this day? Is it because of a lack of authoritative power, or a lack of one’s self control to do good? Despite the unknown cause, it has managed to drastically affect the lives of many. Poverty is like a curse, one that is wrongfully placed, difficult to get out of, and resistant to many forms of help.